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I have a manager who has created a WhatsApp group for his team. I personally do not like to use my own phone for work related things. (I have Slack and Teams installed so you can reach me through any of these apps, I just do not want to give my phone number). How can I force my manager to use corporate approved communication tools instead of WhatsApp? It's worth mentioning that we all have NDAs signed and sharing images or work related information (I'm a developer who works closely with finance, sales and FP&A teams, so the information is very sensitive) on personal devices could be considered an NDA violation. I already spoke with him and sent him an email with this last concern in the hope he would change to any of the company-approved tools for communications with no success.

How can I convince my manager to use corporate approved communication tools instead of WhatsApp?

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    Do you have slack and teams installed on your phone? Wouldn't that also violate the NDA?
    – sf02
    Commented Sep 1, 2020 at 17:47
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    Does your company not have positions for this? Data Security is often - outside small companies and in many jurisdictions - a mandatory position. And they will not be happy about this manager and the legal implications. Is there a worker's council?
    – TomTom
    Commented Sep 1, 2020 at 18:52
  • I would just tell him you are not installing Whats App on your personal device. If the company wants to get you a phone you are okay with that and leave it for him to mull over.
    – NDEthos
    Commented Sep 4, 2020 at 18:39

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I'll post my own answer. I got tired of waiting and send a reply to my own email copying my manager's manager. He quickly replied demanding the use of MS Teams in order no to breach our NDA

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    I hope that making an enemy of your manager was worth this victory ...
    – brhans
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 2:25
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    @brhans honestly, I do not be on this company much longer. Already on job hunting. There are other issues with this manager beyond the scope of this question that I do not like it (dishonesty among other things)
    – Orejano
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 14:26
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    This was a correct decision. Manager pen himself and all of you to an NDA breach. Jobs are come and go, but reputation and record are constant
    – Strader
    Commented Sep 4, 2020 at 14:15
  • @brhans the manager can be upset all they want, if the OP is doing their job than they're fine. Anything after this point would be viewed as retaliation and make the manager themselves look bad anyways... very likely this has made the manager look very bad already. The manager may end up getting replaced at some point
    – schizoid04
    Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 4:26
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When I've been in a situation where someone attempts to use unauthorized communication methods, I just ignore 100% of that communication. I've never had to do that to a boss and as others point out, that's sort of risky for your job security. But it would be unethical for you to blatantly violate your NDA and you would be legally liable for damages if something bad happens due to you using unauthorized channels.

I did work at a startup company that was obsessed with using WhatsApp and Skype and ignored my suggestion to use Slack until a CTO was hired who said the same thing and then they switched within maybe 2-3 months.

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  • It's probably better to reply to their WhatsApp message via work channels rather than ignore it entirely. But refusing to respond on WhatsApp is certainly a viable solution.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 12:53
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My recommendation, for reasons ranging from tact to respect to self-preservation, would be to go directly to the second-line manager and say "This request was made. It seems to violate company security. Am I wrong? If not, you probably want to talk with my manager."

That gets you out of the middle of the argument, let's the correction be made in a face-saving way (treats it clearly as a concern rather than an accusation and makes clear that you are trying to support rather than undermine your first-line), and should accomplish the goal.

Praise in public, criticize in private. Whether managing down or up.

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